


better with you

by springup



Category: ASTRO (Band)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Fluff and Mush, Light Angst, M/M, breathless era astro, lapslock
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-29
Updated: 2017-10-29
Packaged: 2019-01-26 00:55:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12545188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/springup/pseuds/springup
Summary: “i tried to wait up for you but i must have fallen asleep.”“you tried to wait for me to get home?”“of course,” the dread dongmin had been mulling over earlier starts to dissolve because of minhyuk’s sincerity and kindness, and is replaced with something light and sugary-sweet.





	better with you

dongmin is used to solo schedules and spending time either with just his manager or a group of total strangers. it’s something that he experienced even before his debut with astro. fantagio had him doing solo activities, namely modeling jobs, as soon as they realized how popular dongmin and his visuals were and how much more attention they could get both himself and his future group by promoting him well early on. and after debut the amount of solo activities only grew. 

he’s thankful of the opportunities, of course he is as a rookie idol, but it’s lonely for him sometimes, most of the time. and sometimes he feels bad, guilty towards his group for doing so much by himself and even feels like he’s failing his group. though for the most part he can ignore those thoughts, tucking them away into the further corner of his mind. it’s easy enough considering how busy his days are. he spends the mornings and early afternoons training and practicing with the rest of his group while the rest of the afternoon is spent on whatever solo activities he currently has before returning either with dinner or just in time to help minhyuk cook something. it’s all fine, great even. a good balance between the two halves of his job that leaves him no time to doubt himself any. until it isn’t. 

astro’s very first comeback, while it is exciting, triggers more practices and music show recordings and interviews and more offers for solo promotions that he can’t refuse (or doesn’t because his manager always tacks on a “doing this will get astro’s name out there” and there isn’t much dongmin wouldn’t do for his group). which, in itself, isn’t a problem. having a comeback means astro is doing well enough and gaining more popularity and money. the problem comes with the fact he now has more things to do in the same amount of time. his schedule quickly becomes hectic and overbooked, appointments and other solo activities constantly being shifted around and squeezed in where ever they can during the day. 

it isn’t very far into their breathless promotions and this crazy scheduling before his manager is telling him that he has a night schedule, the first of many but he doesn’t know that yet, and that they probably won’t be home until close to midnight. it really isn’t that big of a deal, he’ll miss one meal and an evening with his group, yet there’s a sense of dread that settles in the pit of the stomach. the kind of dread that says “this is how it starts”, the kind that he can’t seem to shake from the back of his mind throughout the entire night no matter how hectic the set he’s working on is, the kind that makes him feel a little sick to the stomach as he and his manager drive home at a little past two. 

dongmin can’t exactly pinpoint what the main cause of the dread is. he thinks maybe he’s afraid to come home and find everyone was fine without him or maybe he’s afraid he’s holding them all back and they’re secretly glad he was gone. whatever the main cause is, it continues to eat at him until the two manage to stumble into the quiet dorm only to find the television still on and someone curled up on the couch. 

he quickly offers to make sure whoever it is makes it to bed, allowing his manager to get a few more precious moments of sleep before everything starts over again tomorrow and is met with a relived and exhausted smile and a kind, “you did good today, sleep well.”. dongmin keeps still in the doorway, waiting until his manager rounds the corner to his room before moving to their old, worn couch to wake the sleeping figure. 

the sleeping figure ends up being minhyuk. and dongming finds that it’s almost hard to wake him up, the younger looks so peaceful and relaxed and dongmin really doesn’t want to be the one to interrupt that. but he also doesn’t want to be the one to listen to minhyuk whine about a sore back from sleeping on the couch tomorrow so he settles on shaking his shoulder and calling out a quiet “minhyukkie, you have you get up now.” 

it takes a few more shakes before minhyuk stirs, sleepily blinking up at the older until his mind catches up with the rest of his body. “hyung?” dongmin answers with a soft hum in affirmation. “what time is it?” 

dongmin tries not to laugh at how confused and tired (and cute, his mind adds unhelpfully) minhyuk sounds. “it’s around two-thirty, which means it’s time for you to go to sleep in an actual bed.”

“did you just get home?” is asked instead of acknowledging dongmin’s quip and he gives another hum in response. “shit,” dongmin thinks he should probably scold the younger for his language but decides not to in favor of just watching him tiredly rub his eyes instead. “i tried to wait up for you but i must have fallen asleep.” 

“you tried to wait for me to get home?” 

“of course,” the dread dongmin had been mulling over earlier starts to dissolve because of minhyuk’s sincerity and kindness, and is replaced with something light and sugary-sweet. “i thought coming home to a quiet dorm would be lonely and weird and i didn’t want you to feel lonely but i must have been more tired than i thought..”

the older is unable to form an actual sentence, overwhelmed with something he can’t quite name, and settles instead on pulling minhyuk off the couch and into his arms, squeezing the younger tightly as he laughs in disbelief at how genuinely sweet minhyuk can be without even realizing. it takes a few moments before he gets asked what the hug is for and answers honestly, “because you ease my worries,” dongmin pauses and pulls away enough to grin down at the shorter, “plus you looked too adorable, like a sleepy kitten.” 

and apparently that appeases minhyuk, who gives him a brilliant smile in return for the answer and pulls dongmin’s closer again. they stay like that, with their arms wrapped around each other and minhyuk’s head against his chest (and his head against minhyuk’s) for several comforting minutes, only separating when dongmin announces that they need to get ready for bed because they have another early morning (to which he receives a muffled “two more minutes” from minhyuk that makes his heart flutter violently in his chest). 

(after those two minutes, that were really probably closer to ten, dongmin drags minhyuk towards his room and sends him off to bed with a “thank you” and a kiss to the top of his head.)

**Author's Note:**

> this has been something i’ve been meaning to write since i found out minhyuk used to wait up for dongmin to get home from solo schedules. i don’t think i did it justice but i still hope you enjoyed it. also if you see any grammar or spelling mistakes please let me know so i can fix them (there’s only so many things i can find myself when it’s unbeted and it’s 1:45 am). you can find me @ changblnnles on twitter! thank you for reading~


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